Malam Salihu Lukman, National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (North-West), warned on Monday against electing a Muslim lawmaker as the next Senate President in order to avoid a repeat of the tension that greeted the party's Muslim-Muslim ticket last year.

The APC chieftain issued the appeal in a statement titled 'Cash-and-Carry Contest for Leadership of the Tenth National Assembly.'

His appeal follows reports that many Senate candidates have turned the APC national secretariat into a warehouse, where several bags of rice and sugar were offloaded as an inducement to NWC members last week.

While noting that it is compelling for the ruling party to zone the prestigious office to the South-South or South-East for national unity, Lukman also urged former Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari and Senate Committee on Appropriation Chairman Senator Jibrin Barau to withdraw from the race.

"It is therefore very compelling that the Senate President come from the South-South or South-East," he said. I'd like to point out that two respected Senators-elect from the Northwest have made public declarations of their desire to serve as Senate President. His Excellency Abdulaziz Yari and Senator Barau Jibrin.

"Now that power has shifted to the South, we have the responsibility as a region to regulate the conduct of all our Senators-elect from the North-West, including the two Senators-elect Abdulaziz Yari and Barau Jibrin to withdraw their candidacy for Senate President."

"All North-West party leaders must prevail on these leaders to withdraw their candidacy for Senate President of the 10th Senate in the overall interest of national unity and peaceful coexistence." At most, they should aim for the position of Senate Majority Leader in accordance with the Senate's 1999 zoning formula."

The rise of Yari and Barau has increased the number of senators vying for the top spot in the Red Chamber.

Others in the race include former Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godswill Akpabio, senator-elect Osita Izunaso of Imo West, and Senate Chief Whip Orji Uzor Kalu, who recently lost his wife.

However, Lukman, a member of the APC National Working Committee, reiterated that no candidate from the North-West or North-East should be considered for the position.

While he expressed concern about the constant lobbying of lawmakers and NWC members, he also expressed concern that the imposition of a Muslim leader in the Senate following the outrage that greeted the emergence of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and his Deputy-elect, Kashim Shettima, who share the same faith, could cause chaos.

"Any Muslim running for Senate President has no regard for the constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the APC." This is due to the fact that Chapter II, Section 14(3) of the Nigerian constitution clearly stated that "the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies, and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, as well as to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other groups."

"With two Muslims already elected to be sworn in as President and Vice President of the Federal Republic on May 29, any attempt to consider another Muslim as Senate President will promote Muslim dominance in the Federal Government and will be detrimental to Nigeria's national unity and peaceful coexistence as a sovereign entity, which must not be allowed."

"This has reduced the race for the leadership of the Tenth National Assembly to a cash-and-carry contest." To put it mildly, this is both disappointing and concerning. "How can APC elected representatives sink so low as to use unethical cash-and-carry methods to mobilize support for their aspirations?"